The present invention relates to a pucker free garment seam and method of manufacture. More specifically, the invention is directed to an improved garment seam and method of manufacture which facilely eliminates a tendency of the seam to bunch or pucker along a free edge of a shirt collar and other similar areas following conventional laundering procedures.
The clothing industry has long suffered from a puckering phenomenon that occurs at seam lines on garments. Seam pucker occurs during laundering and is typically caused by thread shrinkage that results from exposure to ordinary laundering cycles. Thread shrinkage proceeds at a rate greater than surrounding shirt material which creates relative movement and a waviness or puckering at a seam joining two panels of fabric. More specifically, during a typical washing and drying operation, the sewing thread contracts and pulls on opposing collar components at the garment seam. This thread shrinkage causes the next adjacent garment material to contract and buckle and thereby creates waves along the garment seam. This effect is distinctly noticeable in a dress shirt collar seam which is essentially exposed at the eye level of a viewer. Moreover, a shirt collar seam is unique in that it has a free edge and thus no adjacent panel stability. Accordingly, it would be very desirable to provide a shirt collar and method of manufacture which would maintain a free edge seam of a collar which is smooth and pucker free even after multiple laundering operations.
Several techniques have been suggested in order to reduce seam pucker within a collar. One common procedure is to starch the collar. Starching a shirt with each laundering creates a flat neat appearance, however, starching with every laundering has distinct disadvantages. A starched shirt collar is harsh around the neck of a wearer. Well starched and smooth shirts require a professional laundry treatment, which is somewhat expensive and inconvenient. Moreover, it is believed that each repeated starching tends to shrink a shirt collar.
Another process uses an interlining having a thermoplastic component in the interlining matrix. During the manufacture process, the seam is ironed such that the cross-sectional thickness of the seam is reduced along the stitch line. This reduced thickness allows for slack in the sewing thread. This permits the sewing thread to shrink an amount equal to the slack during subsequent launderings. This technique, however, is not entirely effective in reducing seam pucker. First, the collar components sewn together at the seam are allowed to pull apart between outer stitches of the seam, resulting in buckling of the garment fabric. Second, the thread binds with the matrix of the interlining when it is compressed; therefore, the shrinkage of the thread still results in at least a degree of seam pucker.
Another attempt in the prior art to minimize seam pucker utilizes specified garment material--material that stretches during the sewing process and relaxes after the sewing process is complete. This relaxation allows for slack in the sewing thread. However, this attempt is also ineffective in reducing seam pucker. First, as before, the collar components that are sewn together at the seam are permitted to pull apart between outer stitches of the seam which results in buckling of the garment fabric. Second, only garments manufactured from certain stretch materials may be utilized to produce the garments. The disadvantages associated with this technique are clear.
Another method envisioned to solve the problem of seam pucker entailed altering the nature of the sewing thread rather than focusing on the fabric components. One such attempt uses a composite sewing thread whereby one component of the thread is water soluble. During the laundering process, the water soluble component dissolves and creates slack in the sewing thread which compensates for thread shrinkage. Yet, this attempt also exhibits limitations in minimizing seam pucker. First, as before, the collar components sewn together at the seam are allowed to pull apart between outer stitches of the seam, resulting in bucking of the garment fabric. Second, the high cost of manufacturing a sewing thread altered in such a manner greatly increases the overall garment cost. Third, commercial sewing apparatus are not well suited to utilize altered thread. Last, thread strength is greatly reduced by such a composite design. Other prior art attempts that alter the nature of the sewing thread are ineffective for the same noted reasons.
Still another prior art attempt to eliminate seam pucker incorporates an interlining coated with an adhesive between outer and inner fabric panels. In this assembly, an initial set stitch traverses the interlining causing it to maintain a stationary position. Further, the set stitch traversing the interlining causes the interlining to be folded over in the formation of the seam creating undesirable thickness to a finished, free edge of a shirt collar.
The difficulties and limitations suggested in the preceding are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather are among many which demonstrate that although significant attention and energy have been devoted to reducing and minimizing pucker in garment seams for decades, the puckerless garment seams and method of manufacture appearing in the past will admit to worthwhile improvement.